Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm

Feel Unique - £27.20 with free delivery

I first became aware of Emma Hardie after reading skincare expert Caroline Hiron's amazing and hilarious blog, and she kept harping on about it so after a while I took the plunge. I wasn't sure what to expect as I've never tried a "balm" cleanser before, and I am basically stuck in a cleanser rut.

I was loyal until Liz Earle changed the formula of Cleanse & Polish (the Liz Earle lady lied to me on the phone and said they haven't changed the formula... they have! Apparently they've removed the almond milk). I digress. But ever since this change my skin had a massive reaction and I can no longer use it. I used the Estee Lauder Take It Away one for a while, which I liked, but when I ran out I fancied a change and I've been using the Lancome Galatéis Douceur gentle softening cleansing fluid which I really, really love and would 100% recommend, especially if you've got sensitive eyes like me.  

As I've nearly run out of that one too I thought I would try another one, and this was my first port of call. First impressions of this? The smell. I know some people love it but I'm really not a fan, it just smells too heavy for me if that makes sense? But I'll get that past that, its not so bad that it puts me off the product, but it is a strong smell. The instructions say to mix with warm water to get a "paste", but obviously I mixed it with too much water and just had runniness the first time I used it, idiot.  But now I've figured it out and I did notice that my skin was smoother, but it also felt so heavy and no matter how many times I cleaned my face with the cloth, I always felt like I had a sort of greasy film left on the surface of my skin after using this.

I also noticed that it didn't take all of my eye-make up off, and I wasn't even using waterproof mascara or anything, just normal MAC fluidline and some cheap mascara! I was really disappointed with this, as it meant I kept fiddling with my eyes trying to get all the remaining make up off, which irritated my eyes massively.

In a nutshell, I know that so many people "adore" this balm and now wouldn't be without it, but for me, I just find it too heavy, leaves a sort of film on my face and doesn't remove all my make up. So a thumbs down from me I'm afraid, I doubt I'll be repurchasing.

(For reference, I've been using mine for almost a month now and I reckon I'm about three quarters of the way through it).